Chinese game company Perfect World has gained 50 million registered players throughout Asia thanks to its free-to-play business model for games such as the fantasy title Perfect World.In the past year, both Age of Conan and Warhammer Online tried to unseat World of Warcraft with similar subscription models, to no avail. (Warhammer Online has 300,000 paying subscribers now). But with the recession in full swing, consumers may prefer the free games like Perfect World, which has full 3-D graphics. The characters are dressed like those in Chinese mythology and they come with cute pets.

The question that the Chinese game companies face is whether they can make the shift from Eastern to Western fare and take on the titan of online games, World of Warcraft, which has 12 million paying subscribers who reportedly generate approximately billion dollars a year in revenue for Activision Blizzard.Now the company is expanding in the U.S. The company launched Perfect World International in the U.S. as a free game about six months ago and has about a million registered users.The games also let you but virtual goods, such as clothing that makes your game character look cool, a better sword to give you better capabilities. Roughly 10 percent of players spend money on these goods, enough to compensate for the games being free, said Yoon Im, dreictor of operations for Perfect World Entertainment in Redwood City, Calif.